Pneumatic tire.



No. 814,068.` PATBNTED'MAR. 6, 1906. F. G. MGKIM.

PNEUMATIC TIREI APPLICATION FILED M114, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

PATENTED MAR. 6, 1906v m M IT l Vl No. 814,068. PATBNTED MAR. 6, 1.906.

F. G. MGKIM.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.14, 1905.

4 SHEBTS-SHEBT 3.

@la R911 No. 814,068. PATENTED. M1411. 6, 1966.

1". 6. MGKIM.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

APPLICATION FILED 11411.14, 1965.

4 SHBETSSHEET 4.

'l l Il Witness@ .Y [7u/lembi? ain, residing at 115 Finsbury FREDERICKGEORGE MCKIM, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

PNEUMATIC TIRE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Y

Patented March 6, 1906.

ppumon md March' 14, 1905. serai No. 250,047.-

ToaJ/Z urk/nm, it muy concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK GEORGE MCKIM, a subject of the Kin ofGreatBrit- Favement, London, England, have invented new and usefulImprovements in or Relating to Pneumatic Tires, of which the followingis a specification. v This invention relates to pneumatic tires, chieflydesigned for use upon heavy roadmotor and other' vehiclesand has .forits ied form of the tire.

object to provide atire which is practically ununcturalile,is notsubjected-to side slip, an

in the unlikely vent'of'a puncture or rupture of the air-,tubetakingplace 'can be repaired expeditiously and with facility.

- According to lnvention I construct' a tire of al number of independentair-chambers adapted to be placed in series in a suit` ably-shapedrimgand .each of'which.- is provided at each of its ends with-anorifice. The lorifices of the contiguous chambers are' in alinement, sothat the Whole series of chambers within the rim forms a complete andcontinuous air chamber or tube. The adjacent orifices'of contiguouschambers are provided with means, such as nipples or clips, by

which they are connected together in anair tight manner, anddistance-pieces may also be provided between theadjacent chambers. -Thechambers are either formed or furnished with solid tread portions whichproject peripherally from the rim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is' '8i-longitudinal section of aportion of a tire and rim constructed according to the invention. Fig. 2is asection on the line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinalverticalsection of one of the independent chambers with'the attachedtread piece. Fi 4 is a detached view of a connecting-nipp e. Fig. 5 is aviewof a convenient form of distance-piece. Fig. 6 is a sectionalelevation illustrating a modi- Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7 7,Fig. 1. Fig-8 is asection on the line 8 8, Fig. 1. Fig. 9 isa sectionalelevation of a detached-tread'-piece. Fig. '10 is a plan view thereof.Fig. 11 is an elevation at right angles to Fig. 9. Fig. 12 is a verticalsection of one of the air-chambers'. Fig. 13

is a plan view ofthe chamber. Fig. 14 1s any 'elevation at right a lesto Fig. 12. Fi 15 is a side view of the c ip vfor the air-cham ers. Fig.16 is a plan view thereof. Fig. 17is a section on the line 18 18, Fi 17.Fig. 19 is a section on the line 19 19, ig. 18. Fig. 20' vis a' viewsimilar to Fig. 18, but showing the clip in the open position. Fig. 21is a view similar toFig. 1-5, but illustrating a modified form of theclip. Fig'. 22 is a view at right angles to Fig. 21. Fig. 23 is a planview of thel clip.l Fig. 24 is an elevation of half the modified form ofclip. Fig. 25 is a vertical section illustrating a' modification whereinthe air-chambers are in pairs. Fig. 26 is a view of a distance-piece foruse between the vtwo chambers of each connected pair. Fig. 27 is averticalsection of an air-charnber, illustrating a further modication;and Fig. 28 is a vertical section'oi' the tire shown applied to amodified construction of rim.

Referring first to the form of -tire illustrated j in Fi s.' 1 to 5,@ aVrepresent the independent air-c ambers, eachoi which is formed intealwith thel tread-piece 5.

c c arethe orieachof the chambers a, the said orifices being,assindica'ted, of a conical shape. Theseparate air-chambers a are placedin a series in a hollow rim, so that they to ether form a completeair-chamber, the a jacent ori-iies. of

contiguous chambers being connected toether 'by means of thedouble-(zoned nipples The rim may be of anysnitable construction. In thedrawings it is illustrated as bein composed of. the felly e, to whichare boIted two side plates f f, and of the cover or cap g, which is madewith a number of holes h, through which the aforesaid tread-pieces b ofthe air-chambers protrude, as clearly indi* cated in Figs. 1 and 2. 'L't' are distancepieces which are introduced between the adjacent chambersa a., so that each of the said chambers is practically inclosed in itsown independent box or case formed by the rim and elected in oneoperation by means of the 1n ation-nipple in connection with one of theair-'chambers a. A

In the tire above described the tread- 55 view at right-'angles to Fig.15. Fig. 18 is a pieces b are integral with the air-chambers a,

ces which are'formed at o posite ends of roo and the joints between thecontiguouschal'nbers are ell'er-,ted by means of the nipples, thepressure ol` the air within the chambers being relied upon y forobtaining hermetic joints. ln the modilication illustratedV in Figs. 6to24 vthe joints between the'chambers'are obtained by ineans of specialclips, and the treadpieces of the tire are made` independent ofthe'air-chambers upon which they rest. ln these 'ligures, a. e representthe air-chambers,

which are advantageously of theproiile clearly shown in Figs. l2, 13,and i4 and each of which is provided at each end with a projecting softnipple l", forming the orifice, and into which the one end ol thedouble-coned connecting-piece l is passed, as shown in Fig. 6. b b arethe separate. tread-pieces, and these are also advantageously oftheshape illustrated in Figs. S), 10, and ll, their bases beinghollowed'out, as shown, to conform to the contour of" the upper partofthe airchambers, onto which they neatly lit, as will he seen in Figs.6 and 7.

Figs. l5 to L2() illustrate a form of clip for ,clasping thenipple-tubes7c k onto the doubleconed connecting-pieces l Z so as to provide ofair-chambers a e. The clip shown com -A prises a link m and the twoleaves or' parts n n, each of which is provided at its lower end catchg, which is hinged t'o one of the clipV parts n and is ad-aptedto engagea pin r upon the other part fn. At its lower end each of the parts n isformed with thetap'er 4hole s,

the holes in the two parts being immediately opposite one another whenthe said two parts are placed in position on the link and beine designedto receive the aforementioned nipp e-tubes k k upon the ends of theadjacent'chambers. Instead ofthe link fm any other suitable pivot orpivot-piece can be employed to serve as a hinge for` the partsn.

.This arrangement is employed as followsthat is to say, the nipple k ofone chamber. is passed through the hole s at the lower part of one ofthe clip parts n and the other clip part n is similarly attached to thenipple or tube 7c of the adjacent air-chamber a; the connecting nippleor plug Z is then introduced linto one of the orifices s, and .the t/woclip parts n are secured to the link m and closed against one another inthe manner shown in Fig. 15, the other end vof the double-conedconnection l passing into the other hole s, so that when the two parts aare secured poes lc k are firmly clamped upon the dou leconedconnecting-piece, as'shown in Fig. 6,

thus forming an air-tight joint between the chambers.

Figs. 42l `to 24 show a modified construe.- tion'oi the clip. In thisconstruction each olI the clip parts n is formed integral with lateralwingst t, so that when the two parts are placed togethcr,'as abovedescribed, they l'orm a combined clip and distance-piece 'l`he shape olthe two parts is such that the device as a whole when in positionbetween the. two adjacent chambers completely fills the space betweenthem within the rim.

ln the tires above, described each of the air-chambers is madeseparately; but it will be obvious that two or vmore such chambers canbe permanently connected together and the pairs connected in series toform the complete continuous chaml'ier.' Such an arf rangement. isillustrated in Fig. 25, which isa sectional view illustrating a coupleof chambers connected together or formed in one piece: With a air ofchambers `made in vthis way itis a( vantageous to providedistance-pieces between the adjacent ends of the connected'chambers totake the place of the distance-pieces attached to the clip. Such adistance-piece is. shown in Fig. 26.

In practice the tread-pieces l) of the tire are made of such a lengththat under the compression of the air-chamber due to the with anexternal hook 0, adapted to be en weight of the vehicle when running thesaid tread-pieces are not pushed into the rim to such an extent that theupper edge of the said rim can come into direct contact with ltheground. To prevent the inner end of each tread-piece from causing damageto the air-chamber when the tire is deflated or under abnormalcompression, .I may provide an elastic pad u (see Fig. 27) at the bottomof the air-'chamber and which serves as Va'cushion or buffer to receivethe impact of the inner. end of the tread-piece.-

IOO

Fig. ZS'illuStrates-the tire applied to a modified construction ofwheel-rim comprising a felly e, to which are bolted the two side platesw w. 'The saidside plates w w are turned inward at their upper ends, soas to' provide a neck narrower than the space within the.- rim comprisedbetween the two side plates. TheA tread-piece is also made narrower Iatits upper part', as indicated at so as to fit the aforesaid neck in therim. By this means I am enabled 4to dispense with the employmentof thecap or cover g, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

WVith tires constructed as above described it will be obvious thatcomplete protection against puncture is provided owing to theemploymentof the rojecting tread portions',

the discontinuity oi which also obviates the liability of skidding orside slip owing to the grip which the discontinuous ,tread enables Lthetire to have upon the road.` Further-l more, it will be clear thatshould a chamber be punctured or ruptured from any untere-- IIO binationwith a series of air-chambers, of disj fianges, distance-pieces between.said airtliiough said covering,- substantia ly as dependent treadportions provided with con- 'certained the nature of my said invention-said air-chambers toforma complete tube,

`vided with 'upwardly-extending anges, of bolts passing through said.flanges andadaptpieces and independent tread portions for seen cause itcan be quickly 'removed and repaired or replaced by a new chamber withfacility..

Having now particularly described and asi and in whatmanner the same isto be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. -In'a tire of thekind described, the comtance-pieces located .between the same, acovering for said-air-chambers and said distancepieces and treadportions on said air-chainbers constructed to project through saidcovering, substantially as described. 2. In a tireof the kinddescribed,the combination with a series of air-chambers, of means for aording communication between.

distance-pieces between said air-chambers, a covering for said chambersand distancepieces and a tread portion on each of said chambers andrejecting through said covering, substantia ly as described.

3. The combination with a series of chambers of `a rim .provided withupwardly-extend- V ing a'nges constructed to receive said airchambers,distance-pieces between said airchambers, a covering for saidair-chambers and distance-pieces, provided with :portions adapted toAengage with said flanges of said rim, bolts passing through said iangesada ted ,to lock said covering in said rim an a tread portion on each osaid chambers projecting through said covering,` substantially asdescribed.

4. The combination with a wheel-rim proed to secure said lan'gesto therim, a series of aii" chambers adapted to fit between said chambers, acovering for -said airchambers anddistance-pieces andl having portionsfor engaging said ianges, bolts passin .through said flanges anddistance-pieces and adapted to retain said covering in iosition and atread portion on each of. said c ainbers rejecting 5. In a-tire of thekind described, the combination with a series of air-chambers, ofdistance-pieces between said air-chambers,- a coveringfor saidair-chambers and distancesaid chambers adapted to protrude through saidcovering, substantially as described.

6. In a tire of the kind described, the conibination with a series ofair-chambers provided with convex portions, off distancepieces betweensaid chambers, a covering for said chambers and distance-pieces andindedependent air-chambers oi? comprising the two parts having holes tore- `oeive the nipples of the air-chambers to be cavo facesadapted toengage with the 'convex portions of said air-chambers, said treadportions being adapted to protrude through said covering, substantiallyas described'.

7. In a tire of the kind described, the combin'ation with a series ofair-chambers, .the adjacent chambers beingprovided with nipples, ofmeans for forming air-tight connections between said nipples,distance-pieces between said chambers, a covering for said air-chambersand distance-pieces and a tread portion on each of said air-'chambersadapted' to rotrudethrough said covering, substantia ly as described. lf

8. In a tire ofthe kind described, the combination with a' series ofair-chambers, the

ples, of connecting-pieces between said'nipples, clips provided withportions for engaging sai nip les and forming air-tight connections witsaid connecting-pieces, distance-pieces between said air-chambers, acovering for said air-chambers and distancepieces, and a tread ortion oneach of said air-chambers adapted to project through said covering,substantially as described.

9. In a tire of the kind described, the com` bination with la series of4air-chambers, the adjacent chambers being provided with nipples, ofconnecting-pieces between said nipples, cli s provided with portions for engaging sai nipples and forming vair-tight connections witi saidconnectin -p1eces, laterval,ly-exteijiding wings on said c ips adaptedto form distance-pieces between said air-chambers, a covering for saidchambers and clips and a tread portion on each of said air-chainbersadapted to project through saidcovering, substantially as described.'

. 10.- The combination with a wheel-rim, of

flexible nipple at either end and apro'ecting tread-piece separate from,or integr with, it, of clips for connecting together the convadjacentchambers beingprovided'with nip- IOO =a series of air-chambers each'ofwhich has a tiguous nipples of adjacentair-chambers,

each of the saidV clips com rising two parts. 'adapted to be hinged anlocked together and having a'lateralL-wing, substantie herei'nbeforedescribed.

'11. A clip for connectin ly as fr together theinpneumatic tiresconnected, a

ingv the two parts together, av plug or nipple `for insertion in thenipples between the two ink for hinging thev two arts together at theirlower ends, a catch for ock-

